The New York Knicks are on a wild run in the 2026 NBA playoffs, and a WWE star may be behind it all.

It was a wild Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, with the Knicks erasing a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 115-104 overtime win, the second-largest comeback in the fourth quarter of a postseason game since 1997. While New York is certainly praising the late-game heroics of Jalen Brunson and company, people are pointing out that the shocking result happened because of WWE wrestler Danhausen − and his proclamation before Game 1.

Does it make sense? Not really to non-wrestling fans, but those interested in both can't help but notice Danhausen may have something to do with the Knicks' success.

Who is Danhausen?

Danhausen may come off weird to non-wrestling fans, as someone with white, black and red face paint talking in strange ways. His gimmick is that he places curses on wrestlers and other things, and they end up working in mysterious fashion.

After he was with All Elite Wrestling from 2022-26, he made his first WWE appearance at Elimination Chamber in February. His debut was odd, but he has since become a fan favorite wrestler thanks to his comedy and creativity.

Danhausen and the Knicks

The odd relationship with New York goes back to the first round of the playoffs. As part of WWE's promotion of WrestleMania 42, Danhausen appeared on "First Take" and placed a curse on Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith.

The segment was strange, but it had some effect: the Atlanta Hawks took a 2-1 lead over the Knicks. Danhausen even gloated about it on an episode of SmackDown.

Danhausen curses Stephen A Smith on ESPN pic.twitter.com/A9J8lQ8JA3

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) April 17, 2026

However, Danhausen later revealed someone paid him "human monies" to lift the curse off of the Knicks.

The result? The Knicks win three straight games to win the series, and follow it up with a dominant sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. ESPN even noted on "First Take" on May 19 that the Knicks were 6-0 since the curse was lifted.

Danhausen curses Cleveland Cavaliers

As if it couldn't get weirder, Danhausen appeared on ESPN program "NBA Today" ahead of Game 1. On the show, he placed a curse on the Cavaliers.

It didn't end there, as Danhausen went to Madison Square Garden ahead of the game with his own Knicks jersey.

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All of that led to what happened in Game 1, when the Cavaliers were up 93-71 with 7:52 left in the game and on the way to victory. New York instead went on an incredible 44-11 run to cap off the comeback.

After the stunning result, fans took notice of Danhausen's actions, and he was already taking full credit for it, and demanding courtside seats between Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner so the Cleveland curse can continue.

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The Danhausen curse worked 👀

📸 @DanhausenADpic.twitter.com/5aDVXNN5ny

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) May 20, 2026

Another Danhausen curse works. Knicks with a crazy comeback and win! https://t.co/lxKMM2zg6p

— Wrestling (@WrestlinggNewss) May 20, 2026

If you don't believe in the Danhausen curse after tonight, you're crazy. The Cavs were clearly CURSED. @DanhausenADpic.twitter.com/EEyHSUEi3W

— Jeff McDevitt (@JeffMcDev) May 20, 2026

we win a ring and I speak for ALL of knicks FC when I say @DanhausenAD gets a spot on the parade bus instead of @stephenasmithhttps://t.co/Na4kCaxRbZ

— dr. cenzo (@1trueyapper) May 19, 2026

Believe it or not, there may be some magic behind the Knicks' playoff run, and it better ensure it stays on Danhausen's good side in order to win its first NBA title since 1973.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet Danhausen, the WWE star behind the Knicks miraculous comeback win

ESPN announcer Mike Breen was ready to drop another legendary call, but the ball had other plans.

With just 5.3 seconds left in regulation in a tie game Tuesday night, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill took an open 3-point shot at the top of the key.

Many inside Madison Square Garden, including Breen, believed Merrill was about to break Knick fans’ hearts as the ball looked destined for nothing but nylon. 

SAM MERRILL ALMOST HIT THE GAME WINNER

Mike Breen almost said “bang”. pic.twitter.com/HWxBma8Z89

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 20, 2026

But the ball rolled around the rim and fell out, sending Game 1 of Eastern Conference finals to overtime before the Knicks ultimately prevailed 115-104.

“I think I got the ‘B’ of ‘Bang!’ out,”  Breen said on Mad Dog Sports radio Wednesday morning. “That’s not the first time that’s happened. That’s happened a few times, because it looked right on target.” 

Breen’s iconic “Bang!” catchphrase has been the backdrop to countless iconic NBA moments since the broadcaster began calling games on WFAN and MSG in the early 2000’s. 

Moments like Luka Doncic’s game-winning 3-pointer over the Clippers in overtime in 2020, Derrick Rose’s 2015 Eastern Conference semifinals Game 3 buzzer-beater and Ray Allen’s Corner 3 against San Antonio in 2013 all received the coveted “Bang!” treatment.

But Tuesday night’s half-bang went viral across social media, with Barstool Sports dubbing the moment the first premature “Bang!” 

While the ball did not go down, that Breen began his legendary catchphrase still emphasized how important Merrill’s shot was to the game’s narrative. 

“If Merill hits that shot and they win the game, nobody is talking about this great Knicks comeback. Nobody is talking about, ‘Oh, should Kenny Atkinson have called a timeout.‘”’ Nobody is talking about how James Harden really struggled defensively,” Breen said.

“It’s, ‘Wow, what a great victory for the Cavs to win game one on the road.'”

The narrative seemed to be written even before that shot.

The Knicks trailed 93-71 with 7:52 remaining in the fourth quarter and it looked like the Cavaliers were going to steal a win in the Garden with a 99.9% win chance, according to ESPN.

But Jalen Brunson and the Knicks had other ideas. 

They went on an 18-1 run to bring the game within striking distance before Brunson tied the game at 101 with 19 seconds remaining..

After the missed Merrill shot, the Knicks dominated overtime, starting out with a 9-0 run that the Cavs never recovered from.

Game 2 tips off Thursday with another chance for a legendary call from Breen.

Hey, look! A news drop that isn’t playoffs-related. The Spurs have announced that they will be playing two regular season games overseas for the 2026-27 season, both against the New Orleans Pelicans. The first will be in Paris, France at Accor Arena on January 14, 2027, and the second will be at Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England on January 17.

“It’s an incredible honor to make our return to France and play our first-ever game in England, given the strong embrace we’ve felt from the community and fans across Europe,” said San Antonio Spurs CEO RC Buford. “Bringing world-class basketball, community impact engagements and compelling fan activations to a European market, alongside the league, aligns directly with our organization’s vision to unite our global audience through unforgettable experiences and a shared love of sports.” 

The Spurs have a unique history engaging with international basketball since joining the NBA in 1976. More than 50 international players have suited up for the franchise, including seven from France, and the team welcomed the NBA’s first-ever French jersey patch partner, Ledger, in 2025. The Spurs have made a purposeful effort to enhance the cross-cultural exchange between NBA basketball and international fans as part of the organization and league’s long-term commitment to growing the game globally, most recently hosting “Spurs Week Paris” in February 2026 and a Playoff watch party in Paris in April 2026. The January 2027 games will mark the Spurs sixth regular-season game in France and first regular-season game in England, in addition to seven preseason games played across Europe.

In addition to the games, the NBA, the Spurs and the Pelicans will conduct NBA Cares social impact programming focused on health, wellness and sustainability, coach and referee development programming and interactive fan activities that will bring the NBA experience to fans in Paris and Manchester. The Spurs will continue their work with Ledger to bring youth basketball programming and court renovation efforts across the two cities throughout the team’s time in market and will build upon their existing global programs such as Play Paris and Spurs Community Leadership Institute (SCLI) to maximize impact.

This will be Victor Wembanyama’s second time playing in his home country with the Spurs, with the first being last season in two games against the Indiana Pacers. The two teams traded blowouts, with Wemby looking good in their win and okay in their loss amidst a tough month of January for him, although we learn just a couple of weeks later that his struggles were due to deep vein thrombosis, which ended his season during the All-Star break. Hopefully he will be healthy in his return to Paris next season. He will definitely be on another level as a player and have some more hardware to show off compared to last year.

The Pelicans finished a distant 11th in the West with a 26-52 record this season despite getting 62 games from Zion Williamson — the second most of his career — but he wasn’t quite the game-changer he has been in the past (when healthy). However, they did not have former Spur Dejounte Murray most of the season after he suffered a ruptured Achilles in Janaury 2025, but he was good in the 14 games he did play towards the end of the season. They also recently hired former Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who has plenty of young talent to work with and develop — a noted strength of his.

There is certainly room for the Pelicans to improve and jump at least into the play-in next season if they stay healthy. It is often a tense match-up with the Spurs regardless of where the teams are in the standings, so it should be a good series for our overseas friends to experience.

The Houston Rockets have some work to do, from a roster standpoint. This couldn’t have been made more obvious following Houston’s disappointing first-round postseason series against the Los Angeles Lakers, who were playing without their best player in Luka Doncic, while their second-best player in Austin Reaves was limited to just two games.

The Rockets were dominated by Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard for much of the series. Which is a major concern. Especially considering the landscape of the top of the Western Conference.

We just saw Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs (which was an instant classic, by the way). Both of those teams are leagues ahead of the Rockets.

Either of them would likely sweep the Rockets, with each side at full strength. Okay, maybe Houston would win a game, but you get the point.

There’s a rather steep lag between Houston and the top teams in the West. And it doesn’t appear as if the Rockets’ brass is on the same page, as it pertains to roster alignment.

Which is also a major concern.

Following Houston’s season-ending defeat to the Lakers, Rockets coach Ime Udoka emphasized the need for a multitude of skillsets on the roster.

Take a look (and figurative listen) for yourself.

“We do need to address some needs. The shooting, lack of shooting….at times. I think we will have soem very interesting conversations on having a little more of a mix, instead of some duplicates out there.”

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone took to the Ryen Russilo Show to share his thoughts on the matter, illustrating a clear difference in perspective.

“I do think you’re 95 percent of the time better off having redundant strengths than you are having a guy who fits, but isn’t as good of a basketball player. There’s trade-offs.”

This isn’t necessarily the first time that the two have seemingly been misaligned, as it pertains to the roster. Reed Sheppard has been another illustration, as the team invested heavily in him, taking him third overall in his draft class (ahead of even Stephon Castle), while Udoka hasn’t exactly given him consistent playing time.

Outside of the Rockets being without one of their starters, due to injury (in which case Udoka has been forced to dole out major playing time to Sheppard).

But even that wasn’t exactly vocalized by both Udoka and Stone, like we’ve seen here, regarding duplicity on the roster.

The two sides will need to get on the same wavelength, because this roster needs work. The team lacked outside shooting this past season and has ever since Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey left the franchise in 2020. And Houston needs playmaking guards (which also isn’t a new development).

It’s great to have formidable wings, but you need more than just that player profile.

That was a soul-sucking loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers. To go from a 22-point lead with roughly seven minutes left in the fourth quarter to an overtime loss is beyond demoralizing. Those who chose to engage in the toxic social media spaces had all of their darkest thoughts validated in a maddening echo chamber.

Count me among those who went to bed depressed and wondering where it all went wrong.

Spoiler: it went wrong in a lot of areas during those final seven minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

One of the common themes in the doomsday discourse centered around James Harden. It feels like the Cavaliers community operates in absolutes when it comes to Harden; either the Cavaliers were geniuses for bringing him in, or he needs to be launched out of a cannon into the surface of the sun.

But Harden in Game 1 was the victim of the true culprit behind Cleveland’s collapse: Kenny Atkinson.

Atkinson saw what every viewer saw, or at least he should’ve. The New York Knicks identified Harden as the weak point defensively and spammed the same action repeatedly, high screen-and-rolls designed to force Harden onto an island against one of the league’s most methodical isolation scorers in Jalen Brunson.

The result was predictable.

Brunson scored 13 of his 38 points during the final seven minutes. Because Harden was on the receiving end of much of that scoring run, many fans immediately threw his name into the conversation about why the Cavaliers blew the game.

But Harden became the scapegoat for a disaster-class coaching performance from Atkinson in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks closed the game on a staggering 44-11 run. During that collapse, Atkinson held onto his timeouts while watching a 22-point lead shrink to five with three minutes remaining.

There were no noticeable defensive adjustments for far too long. The Cavaliers continued allowing Harden to get dragged into the same matchup over and over again, turning him into the basketball version of a “barbecue chicken” alert. It also took far too long for Cleveland to start trapping Brunson and forcing the ball out of his hands.

And by the time the Cavaliers finally adjusted, the Knicks were already one step ahead. Mike Brown countered by replacing Josh Hart, who had struggled from three, with Landry Shamet to improve spacing and punish the extra help defense.

Meanwhile, Atkinson; who had spent the first three quarters adjusting effectively on both ends of the floor, suddenly looked like a deer in headlights.

After the game, Atkinson’s explanation only added to the frustration. Instead of fully owning the collapse, phrases like “unlucky” were tossed around while avoiding accountability for timeout management and the lack of decisive adjustments that may have helped stabilize the game.

It’s not Harden’s fault that he was repeatedly left isolated defensively possession after possession. At some point, a coach has to recognize what is happening and react.

Atkinson didn’t.

He didn’t make substitutions. He didn’t implement meaningful defensive changes. He didn’t even call a timeout to regroup while the game spiraled out of control.

Fans blamed what they saw on the screen: Harden getting hunted.

They should be blaming what they didn’t see: Kenny Atkinson responding with decisive coaching action.